With US sanctions set to begin, where next for Trump's Iran strategy

The looming USA sanctions have led to a worsening economic crisis in Iran that has seen a sharp drop in the value of the Iranian currency since Trump walked out of the nuclear deal.

Iran's rial currency has been in free-fall in recent weeks and its economy has taken a nose-dive with sanctions set to kick back in starting Monday.

If the new Iranian cryptocurrency manages to gain support from Iran's would-be trading partners, we could see Tehran gain a powerful new asset in its fight to fend off the politicized economic war being waged by the Trump administration on the people and government of the Iranian nation.

He went on to condemn failures to fully implement the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement in the commercial, economic and banking sectors and said: "Today, we are in a very critical point in history regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and Europe's transparent measures to compensate for the US' unlawful withdrawal from the deal is very important for the Iranian nation".

Over the weekend, Trump once again floated the idea of meeting, tweeting "I will meet, or not meet, it doesn't matter - it is up to them!" On Monday, Iran's currency hit an all-time low against the United States dollar as a fresh round of sanctions looms - the rial fell to 112,000 against the 1 USD, down from 98,000. Protesters in the Iranian capital swarmed its historic Grand Bazaar on Monday, news agencies reported, and forced shopkeepers to close their stalls in apparent anger over the Islamic Republic's troubled economy, months after similar demonstrations rocked the country.

Iranian lawmakers want to question Rouhani on a range of issues, including economic difficulties, the heavy depreciation of the Rial which has lost more than 50% of its value since April 2018, and rising unemployment.

Despite the protests, Iranian leaders have reacted skeptically to Trump's offer of talks, insisting that the USA first rejoin the nuclear deal.

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In Shiraz, demonstrators marched from various areas to the Zend junction, according to eyewitnesses, chanting slogans calling for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to leave office.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif noted on Twitter last week that Iran and the United States had two years of talks leading to the nuclear accord.

"US can only blame itself for pulling out & leaving the table".

Following the decision of the U.S. in May 2018 to abandon its commitment to the JCPOA, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to monitor and regulate Iran's nuclear energy programme, Iranian businesses fear that they are straight back to square one. "If anybody's inciting anything, look no further than to Iran", press secretary Sarah Sanders said and added that President Trump has been "very clear about what he's not going to allow to take place". Worldwide sanctions were lifted under the pact between world powers and Tehran in return for curbs on Iran's nuclear program.

Officials have urged Iranian citizens to remain calm and to hold out through the rough times promised by Washington, noting that the country will weather the latest storm wrought by Trump and his apparently "regime change"-focused administration of pro-Israeli, pro-Saudi hawks".

"Everything screeched to a halt when Trump made the announcement", says one Iranian importer.

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